Mark 12:13-44

New American Standard Bible

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes

^13 (A)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and ^(B)Herodians to Him in order to ^(C)trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^[a]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[b]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^[c]permissible to pay a ^[d]poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^[e]denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “^(D)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.

^18 (E)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to ^[f]Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(F)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ^[g]marry the wife and raise up ^[h]children for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. ²¹ The second one ^[i]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; ²² and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[j]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But ^[k]regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(G)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘^(H)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^27 (I)He is not the God ^[l]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

^28 (J)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and ^(K)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[m]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The ^[n]foremost is, ‘^(L)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; ^30 (M)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘^(N)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(O)He is One, and there is no other besides Him; ^33 (P)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(Q)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(R)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.

^35 (S)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He ^(T)taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the ^[o]Christ is the ^(U)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[p]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(W)the large crowd ^[q]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (X)And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(Y)personal greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (Z)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”

The Widow’s Coins

^41 (AA)And Jesus sat down opposite ^(AB)the treasury, and began watching how the ^[r]people were ^(AC)putting ^[s]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^[t]lepta coins, which amount to a ^[u]quadrans. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[v]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[w]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[x]all she had ^(AD)to live on.”